Many people ask, can Christians eat pork and is it sinful to do so according to the Bible? The clear point blank answer to these questions are yes and no. Christians are free to eat anything. Pork, shrimp, seafood, meat, vegetables, anything. There is nothing that is restricting us and let me explain why.
In the Old Testament, God gave dietary laws to Israel
Does the bible say not to eat pork? Did God give dietary laws to other nations? No! Let’s remember that the Lord didn’t give them to everybody. He only gave them to the Israelites.
Leviticus 11:7-8 And the pig, though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.
Deuteronomy 14:1-8 You are the children of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead, for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession. Do not eat any detestable thing. These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep. You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud. However, of those that chew the cud or that have a divided hoof you may not eat the camel, the rabbit or the hyrax. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof; they are ceremonially unclean for you. The pig is also unclean; although it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses.
Food laws of Moses: Clean and unclean meats
When Jesus died on the cross, He didn’t just die for our sins. He fulfilled the Old Testament Law. He fulfilled the laws against unclean food.
Ephesians 2:15-16 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.
Galatians 3:23-26 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Romans 10:4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
Jesus says, “all foods are clean.” We are free to eat whatever.
Mark 7:18-19 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)
1 Corinthians 8:8 “Food will not make us acceptable to God. We are not inferior if we don’t eat, and we are not better if we do eat.“
Acts 10:9-15 “About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray.
He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
Should Christians eat pork if it causes a brother to stumble?
Some people who are weaker in the faith might not understand this so you should be careful not to be divisive and cause someone to stumble. If the person that you are around will be offended, you should remain from eating it.
Romans 14:20-21 Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles.
1 Corinthians 8:13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.
Romans 14:1-3 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them.
The gift of salvation
We are not saved by what we eat and don’t eat. Let’s remember that salvation is a gift from the Lord. We must all understand that salvation is by faith in Christ alone.
Galatians 3:1-6 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Reflection
Q1- What did you learn from this article?
Q2- What does the Bible say about pork?
Q3- Is eating pork a sin?
Q4- How does Jesus feel about pork?
